The Grande Ballroom is a historic live music venue located at 8952 Grand River Avenue in the Petosky-Otsego neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. The building was designed by Detroit engineer and architect Charles N. Agree in 1928 and originally served as a multi-purpose building, hosting retail business on the first floor and a large dance hall upstairs.[1] During this period the Grande was renowned for its outstanding hardwood dance floor which took up most of the second floor.

Around 1927, Detroit businessman Harry Weitzman approached Agree about creating the ballroom. Weitzman financed and owned the ballroom, which was popular in the Jewish community and a hangout for the Purple Gang. His children’s initials are carved under a windowsill at the venue (CDSW: Clement, Dorothy, and Seymour Weitzman). [2][3][4]

Performances of this period were frequently advertised by the distinctive psychedelic handbills of Gary Grimshaw and Carl Lundgren.[7][8] The Grande's rock and roll countercultural experience was extensively documented by Detroit photographer Leni Sinclair.[9] It was during this period that the Ballroom became known as the "hippie capitalist center of Detroit".[10]

Since Gibb closed the Grande as a rock venue in 1972, the building has rarely been used and has fallen into a state of extreme disrepair. As of 2014, the historic club remains inactive and open to redevelopment.[1]